Hutan Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Project (HUTAN KOCP)

About us

HUTAN is a French Non-Governmental Organisation established on the 15th of January 1996 in France by Dr. Isabelle Lackman, a primatologist with Dr. Marc Ancrenaz, a wildlife veterinarian. The primary aim of HUTAN is to study orang-utans in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.
In 1998, HUTAN together with the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) established Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Project – KOCP to carry out the aim of HUTAN´s orang-utan research and a small conservation centre was built in the village of Sukau in the heart of the Kinabatangan wetlands in eastern Sabah.

HUTAN and KOCP are synonymous in synergy and have grown holistically to include working on other wildlife issues including the endemic Borneo Pygmy Elephants. HUTAN-KOCP also works with local communities to address human-wildlife conflict as well as alternative livelihood.

What we do
• Orang-Utan Research Staff – OURS Unit: OURs has complied hours of solid observation data and carries out daily monitoring throughout the year
• Elephant Conservation Unit – ECU: (ECU) with a group of villagers assist local farmers to efficiently control wildlife crop-raiding damages in village orchards and small-scale oil palm plantations. ECU´s mission is to contribute to the long-term survival of the Kinabatangan elephant population by restoring more harmonious relationships between the local communities and the elephants
• Honorary Wildlife Warden´s – HWW
• HUTAN´s Environmental Awareness Project – HEAP: HEAP runs programmes for kindergarten, primary and secondary students within the Kinabatangan region with emphasis on Kampung Sukau. HEAP has also begun carry out such programmes for other rural schools outside Kinabatangan in other parts of the State of Sabah.
• Reforestation Project
• Swiftlet: HUTAN and the Sabah Wildlife Department have working together to develop a recovery programme to ensure the recuperation and the long term conservation of the edible nest swiftlet populations in the Sukau area. The aim of this project is to combine conservation benefits with economic proceeds to the Sukau community.
• Fishermen for Conservation
• The Kinabatangan Corridor Research Project: Designing living landscapes for conservation in Sabah, Borneo

Harjinder Kler is the Communication Manager of HUTAN KOCP.

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.